Car Sharing's Demise Spells Disaster for Environmentally Conscious Britons
The UK's largest car-sharing club, Zipcar, is set to leave the country in just over a month. The news has sent shockwaves through the environmentally conscious community, who will now be forced to rely on expensive and costly cars for most of their transportation needs.
For many, including author Phineas Harper, who recently learned to drive specifically to become a Zipcar member, this is a bitter blow. "I finally learned to drive, specifically in order to become a Zipcar member," Harper recalls. "Now, with the service shutting up shop, I fear I will be stuck maintaining a costly lump of steel that I need for less than 1% of the year."
Zipcar's departure means that Britain is set to lose one shared car for every 30,000 people, effectively eliminating car-sharing options for many parts of the population. This is a severe embarrassment for the government, which has been pushing for sustainable transport solutions, including car-sharing.
However, its efforts seem to be going in the wrong direction. In last week's budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves showered private-car manufacturers with funding, raising subsidies for new electric cars to £1.95bn and topping up grants for new EV charging infrastructure to £500m. Meanwhile, car-sharing clubs like Zipcar are being left high and dry.
"This is a worrying trend," says Arthur Kay, Transport for London board member and author of the book 'Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars'. "The Treasury has been seduced by the claims of electric car manufacturers, and is funnelling money into questionable EV rollouts that could otherwise be supporting effective schemes supporting reduced and shared car-use."
Electric cars are no panacea. While they may produce fewer direct emissions than their petrol counterparts, they still account for a significant portion of driving-based air pollution, particularly when it comes to brake, tyre, and other particulates. Moreover, EVs require energy from the grid to run most of the time, making them carbon-intensive to manufacture.
Rising private electric car ownership is also fuelling more car use in Norway, where 94% of new cars sold are now electric thanks to public subsidies. However, a recent study found that this has prompted an overall increase in car trips of 10-20%.
The loss of Zipcar is not just a business failure; it's a warning that our leaders' transport priorities are out of whack. If we want a country built for people rather than parked cars, we need to get serious about sharing.
Phineas Harper, a writer and curator who had been looking forward to using Zipcar, now finds himself stuck in the slow lane. "The truth is that electric cars are no panacea," he says. "We need to rethink our entire approach to transportation and prioritize sharing over individual ownership."
The UK's largest car-sharing club, Zipcar, is set to leave the country in just over a month. The news has sent shockwaves through the environmentally conscious community, who will now be forced to rely on expensive and costly cars for most of their transportation needs.
For many, including author Phineas Harper, who recently learned to drive specifically to become a Zipcar member, this is a bitter blow. "I finally learned to drive, specifically in order to become a Zipcar member," Harper recalls. "Now, with the service shutting up shop, I fear I will be stuck maintaining a costly lump of steel that I need for less than 1% of the year."
Zipcar's departure means that Britain is set to lose one shared car for every 30,000 people, effectively eliminating car-sharing options for many parts of the population. This is a severe embarrassment for the government, which has been pushing for sustainable transport solutions, including car-sharing.
However, its efforts seem to be going in the wrong direction. In last week's budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves showered private-car manufacturers with funding, raising subsidies for new electric cars to £1.95bn and topping up grants for new EV charging infrastructure to £500m. Meanwhile, car-sharing clubs like Zipcar are being left high and dry.
"This is a worrying trend," says Arthur Kay, Transport for London board member and author of the book 'Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars'. "The Treasury has been seduced by the claims of electric car manufacturers, and is funnelling money into questionable EV rollouts that could otherwise be supporting effective schemes supporting reduced and shared car-use."
Electric cars are no panacea. While they may produce fewer direct emissions than their petrol counterparts, they still account for a significant portion of driving-based air pollution, particularly when it comes to brake, tyre, and other particulates. Moreover, EVs require energy from the grid to run most of the time, making them carbon-intensive to manufacture.
Rising private electric car ownership is also fuelling more car use in Norway, where 94% of new cars sold are now electric thanks to public subsidies. However, a recent study found that this has prompted an overall increase in car trips of 10-20%.
The loss of Zipcar is not just a business failure; it's a warning that our leaders' transport priorities are out of whack. If we want a country built for people rather than parked cars, we need to get serious about sharing.
Phineas Harper, a writer and curator who had been looking forward to using Zipcar, now finds himself stuck in the slow lane. "The truth is that electric cars are no panacea," he says. "We need to rethink our entire approach to transportation and prioritize sharing over individual ownership."
The UK's car-sharing scene just got dealt a huge blow with Zipcar leaving. It's super bad news for the environmentally conscious community who rely on these services 
. The government's efforts to push sustainable transport solutions seem like they're going in the wrong direction, giving all that cash to private car manufacturers instead of supporting shared car-sharing options 
. We need more affordable and accessible shared transport options, not just a bunch of expensive electric cars 
.
they're pouring $$$ into electric car subsidies instead of supporting sustainable transport options like car-sharing 
meanwhile, evs are just moving the pollution problem from one place to another 
what's next? 
i'm so bummed about zipcar leaving the uk, but let's not forget all the other car-sharing options out there 
like citycarshare or car2go. we should be supporting those instead of relying on one big service 
. and btw, £1.95bn for electric cars is a lot of dosh 
.
they were like our only option for eco-friendly transportation now we're stuck with super expensive cars 
it's so unfair that the government is giving all those funds to private car companies instead of supporting car-sharing services like zipcar 
not just focus on individual ownership and cars but on sharing and sustainability 
Car sharing is not a viable option for many in the UK now? 
, I've been waiting for them to roll into my area but now it seems like that's not gonna happen 
. and to make matters worse, those gov funds are all being shoveled towards electric cars which just seems so short sighted 
10-20% increase in car trips in norway is no joke 
) when it comes to figuring out how to make sustainable transport work for everyone. We need to rethink this approach ASAP! 
I gotta say, this is a disaster for the environment! 
️.
. It's time to shift gears and focus on solutions that benefit both the planet and the community 
.